Betty White will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 42nd annual Daytime Emmy Awards, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences announced today.
“Betty White is an American institution,” said NATAS President Bob Mauro. “Betty’s career as a female pioneer has followed television from literally the beginning of the medium, winning her first Emmy Award in 1952, to the digital-streaming future, winning again in 2010.
“She is one of the most beloved female performers in the history of television and the National Academy is proud to be honoring her with a most well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award,” he said.
The April 26 awards ceremony will be televised live on Pop from Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank.
Previous lifetime achievement honorees include Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, Merv Griffin, Dick Clark, Bob Barker, Phil Donahue, Regis Philbin and Alex Trebek.
David Michaels, senior vice president, Daytime, called White, 93, “the first lady of game shows.”
“Betty was the darling of ‘Password,’ where she met the love of her life, Allen Ludden, and a favorite on ‘Match Game,’ ‘The $25,000 Pyramid’ and countless others,” Michaels said. “She was the first woman to receive an Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host in 1983 for the show ‘Just Men.”‘
White, whose career has spanned more than 70 years, notched the first of her seven Emmy Awards in 1952 for her first comedy series, “Life with Elizabeth,” which she followed with a daily NBC talk/variety show called “The Betty White Show.”
She was a recurring regular with more than 70 appearances on “The Tonight Show with Jack Paar” and frequently appeared on “The Merv Griffin Show” and “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” She also subbed as host on all three talk shows.
White was a regular with Vicki Lawrence on “Mama’s Family,” and her recurring role as “Happy Homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” brought her two Emmys for Best Supporting Actress.
Nominated seven times for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Rose Nylund in “The Golden Girls,” White won the Emmy the first season in 1985.
Her 2010 guest host gig on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” earned her an Emmy Award for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She earned another of her Emmys in the same category for an appearance on “The John Larroquette Show.”
She was nominated for an Emmy in 2011 for her portrayal of “Elka” the caretaker on the TV Land series “Hot in Cleveland,” in which she stars alongside Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick.
Her big-screen credits include “The Proposal,” with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, “You Again,” “Bringing Down the House,” “The Story of Us,” “Lake Placid” and “Hard Rain.”
A longtime supporter of animal health and welfare, White was recently named chair of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. She has served on the GLAZA board since 1974 and was a city zoo commissioner for eight years.
